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“Video Killed the Radio Star”… Watch it happen againhttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/29/video-killed-the-radio-star-watch-it-happen-again/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/29/video-killed-the-radio-star-watch-it-happen-again/#commentsTue, 29 Oct 2013 16:49:29 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=182357In 1981, as the song goes, video killed the radio star. A new technology came in and disrupted the way things had been done previously (especially ironic in that example given that the music video for that song was …]]>In 1981, as the song goes, video killed the radio star. A new technology came in and disrupted the way things had been done previously (especially ironic in that example given that the music video for that song was the first one ever played on MTV). This has been happening a lot in the last few years. From classified ads, to car rentals, to auto sales, to newspapers – traditional industries are being upended in favour of digital alternatives. Check out the following examples of this increasingly common trend:

1. The Classified Ad: While not extremely popular anymore, craigslist offered a new way to sell your used furniture or advertise a ‘Missed Connection’. For those not in the know, craigslist is an online classified advertisements website, just like in the back section of your local newspaper. After craigslist came the increasingly popular site kijiji.com.

2. Car Rental Service: One way that new approaches and technologies can get validation is by being bought by the traditional ‘giants’ in that industry. This is exactly what happened when Avis Budget Group, your traditional rental car company, bought Zipcar, a short term car rental service. The other great indicator of short term car rental services making it big is the massive growth rate of the popular Car2Go program, another car-sharing service you may have heard about. In fact, Calgary has been named the fastest growing car sharing market in the world.

3. Newspapers: I’m not going to talk about the rise of alternative forms of media as a result of the internet, or the creation of apps to use to read the newspaper. What I want you to consider is the way in which digital has enabled newspapers to tell stories in new and exciting ways. The most well-known example of this is the New York Times’ interactive story Snow Fall, which won a Pulitzer Prize for its great reporting and “deft integration of multimedia elements”. When digital elements are used to enhance storytelling amazing things happen. The massive popularity and success of Snow Fall validates why newspapers are still relevant, and shows us what happens when an institution like the New York Times embraces innovation.

4. Car Sales: To be more specific, used car sales, are being approached from a new direction with digital. From online sites like autotrader.com, to the installation of new technology to replace paper processes at the dealerships themselves, digital has made its mark in this industry as well.

These are just four examples of how the digital world is changing the way we interact with things on a daily basis. What examples do you have? Chime in in the comments section below!

Meghan is a volunteer at Digital Alberta. In addition to being a digital media enthusiast she is an Account Manager at The Agency, a boutique PR firm that specializes in the technology sector. Full Bio & Twitter.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/29/video-killed-the-radio-star-watch-it-happen-again/feed/0print-vs-digital_bannerdigitalalbertatakethree0015Not Just for Geeks: Wearable Technology is for Everyonehttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/22/not-just-for-geeks-wearable-technology-is-for-everyone/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/22/not-just-for-geeks-wearable-technology-is-for-everyone/#commentsTue, 22 Oct 2013 17:01:23 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=181718First we were introduced to lightweight laptop computers, then ultra-thin smartphones, now loonie-sized iPods. Tomorrow you may be carrying your entire computer as a jewel-sized bauble on your finger. As hardware becomes smaller and less expensive to produce, innovators …]]>First we were introduced to lightweight laptop computers, then ultra-thin smartphones, now loonie-sized iPods. Tomorrow you may be carrying your entire computer as a jewel-sized bauble on your finger. As hardware becomes smaller and less expensive to produce, innovators are looking to wearable technology as the next “big thing” in technology.

While wearable technology is undoubtedly an exciting opportunity, it is still largely in the early-adopter stage. While most of us have heard of “Google Glass“, Google’s foray into wearable tech, many of fashion-conscious consumers are skeptical of a product that is too awkward and “geeky” to wear discreetly. The $1500 price tag is also a big deterrent. However, not all wearable technology products are geared towards the geeky. Fitness enthusiasts have embraced wearable technology wholeheartedly, with subtle step-tracking gadgets such as Fitbit and Nike+ Fuelband. As price tags decrease and designs become more fashionable, we can expect to see wearables in the mainstream.

Pebble, a Kickstarter-funded project, is a simple and stylish watch that connects with your smartphone. The watch can control music and receive text messages, a convenient feature when your phone is in your purse or pocket (not to mention dinner or a business meeting where checking your phone is inappropriate). The watch connects to fitness app “RunKeeper” to track run distances and speeds and more apps are currently in development. At only $150 and available in 5 colours, the Pebble is an accessible and subtle introduction to wearable tech.

If you’re not ready to give up your Rolex, InteraXon’s “Muse” is a brainwave-sensing headband that appears to be straight out of a sci-fi novel. The six-sensor device scans your brainwaves to your phone or tablet. The headband claims to reduce stress, improve memory, and even control games and devices directly with your mind.

Calgary-based wearable technology festival MakeFashion pairs hackers, makers and engineers with fashion designers for an annual runway show. Last year’s event featured a motion-sensitive garment designed by Laura Dempsey. Each part of the body is outfitted with an individual sensor, illuminating the dress with every movement. The space-age dress is currently not available for retail, but if you’re interested in obtaining one contact info@makefashion.ca for details. MakeFashion is also hosting an upcoming accessories competition open to the public to create the next innovation in wearables.

Everyday commuters will soon be benefiting from wearable technology. A team of engineers from MIT have created the 3D-printed “Sesame Ring”, which has an RFID tag to pay for transit fare. Rather than fumbling for public transportation smart cards, commuters wear their passes on a fashionable, customizable ring. Not only can purchasers specify ring colours, but they can also choose a four-letter word or custom design to be encoded in the ring. The innovation can foreseeable be used for a number of purposes other than transit, including office security, conferences, and e-commerce.

Bio: Chelsea Klukas is Digital Alberta Director and a creative professional in Calgary who specializes in technology and startups. She is also the co-founder and marketing director of MakeFashion, Canada’s premier wearable technology festival. If you’re interested in wearable technology, contact chelsea here. Full bio and Twitter.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/22/not-just-for-geeks-wearable-technology-is-for-everyone/feed/01418622_35084795digitalalbertaPasted Graphic 3Pasted Graphic 2Pasted Graphic 1Pasted Graphicchelsea7 ways to create online content people might actually readhttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/15/7-ways-to-create-online-content-people-might-actually-read/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/15/7-ways-to-create-online-content-people-might-actually-read/#commentsTue, 15 Oct 2013 16:59:40 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=181148When it comes to websites, too often we spend a lot of time on the bread but not on the meat. We design a great look, pop in animation, make sure its working on different devices but fail at the …]]>When it comes to websites, too often we spend a lot of time on the bread but not on the meat. We design a great look, pop in animation, make sure its working on different devices but fail at the main reason we do all this work – content. Content is the meat in the sandwich, it’s the reason to build a site in the first place and it should be at the top of our list. Here are a few ways you can spruce things up – that is if you’ve made it this far – it’s been a long paragraph.

1. Tell a story

We are all from a culture of storytellers and are naturally drawn to them. If you can tell a story, you are more likely to have people want to find out what happens. How many business books have you read and stopped one third in? How many fiction books have you read from cover to cover? The difference is story and the anticipation of a payoff at the end. If you can craft your content regardless whether or not it’s text or a video you will have a reason to stick through to the conclusion.

2. Stop talking to yourself

Stepping away from what you think is important and finding out what your audience thinks can be difficult. That’s where personas comes in. Personas are a great way to identify the unique users that access your application. A persona is basically a breakdown of who your target audience is and what they are likely to do online. Armed with information like this, you can find strategies to talk directly to these people.

3. Less is more and lesser is more…er

Our attention span is getting shorter and shorter as time goes on. We live in an age of snippets and are getting used to scanning for headlines and bullet points. To expect someone to be keenly interested in your four page ‘about us’ statement is lofty at best. To take a page from the editor’s handbook, cut as much as you can – then cut again. Another way to approach it is to go mobile first. If the content is effective on a phone then it’s going to work on a desktop.

4. Design your content

Web content is typically left to the last minute and then vomited in to the content manager from a company brochure or some other communication. Design is mostly spent on the wrapping around the content – typically a home page and a sub page. Little time is spent on designing the content itself which is probably the most important Interaction the user will face. Look at each page individually. Are there ways to break up text or replace areas with images or diagrams? Can you use pull-quotes or deck copy? Would a video work instead? See if there are ways to avoid putting up long pages of wall to wall text.

5. Spread it around

One of the best parts of social media is the ability to share obviously. So don’t put your content in the corner – show it off. If it’s a video put it on YouTube or Vimeo. If it’s an image put it on Pinterest or Flickr, advertise new articles on Twitter or Facebook. Or do it all – why not? Get the most out of your hard work.

6. Change stuff

If you want return visitors then there needs to be a reason to come back. There are a lot of side benefits to this as it boosts your Search Engine results, it gives you a reason to post via social networks to drive people back to the site and it keeps it topical.

7. Keywords and SEO

Google loves relevant content. if you want to get up the rankings then there’s no better way than talking about the subjects that you want to compete in. Make sure you use the keywords that you would normally use in your meta data within the content itself. If you don’t tag your content, you are missing out on one of the great advantages of all your efforts.

Having been involved in the online world for 15+ years now, Peter’s job and his passion is to keep up-to-date on emerging technologies and make decisions on where ZGM is pointed. With a background in illustration and design there is almost no area he hasn’t touched from development to video production. His work has been recognized both locally and internationally. Learn more about Peter here.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/15/7-ways-to-create-online-content-people-might-actually-read/feed/0blogImagedigitalalbertaPeter BishopWaterloo blazing a trail for Canada’s tech scenehttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/08/waterloo-blazing-a-trail-for-canadas-tech-scene/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/08/waterloo-blazing-a-trail-for-canadas-tech-scene/#commentsTue, 08 Oct 2013 18:48:46 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=180586Google recently selected Waterloo’s Communitech as one of its seven “tech hubs”, the only Canadian member to make the cut. Despite the doom and gloom that BlackBerry’s fall from grace was predicted to bring to the city, Google …]]>Google recently selected Waterloo’s Communitech as one of its seven “tech hubs”, the only Canadian member to make the cut. Despite the doom and gloom that BlackBerry’s fall from grace was predicted to bring to the city, Google still believes strongly in the area’s tech workforce. Motorola plans to hire an engineering team in the area.

Another emerging tech scene has been emerging in Vancouver over the past few years. Large global tech companies are moving, or establishing offices either in the Toronto/Waterloo area, or in Vancouver, where the rapidly growing HootSuite is based, and startup accelerator GrowLab offers entrepreneurs many of the tools they need to succeed.

Do these signify a tech boom trend in Canada? Here are some reasons why that may be the case:

Culture and proximity to the US – Canadian culture encourages collaborative working which makes it very desirable for entrepreneurs. Startups have also been attracted to Vancouver in general because of its proximity to major markets like the US and Asia.

Recognition of tech as the future – The Quebec government has just pledged $2B in public funds in a bid to create 43,000 jobs by 2017, part of which will go to green technology and manufacturing, as well as information technology.

Canada’s unique blend of culture, talent and government support has become a beacon for startup founders and investors in North America. The recognition that Waterloo has received can only be good for the rest of Canada’s developing tech scenes. Within the next few years, look for Canadian cities besides Waterloo and now Vancouver to make their names in the tech and startup world.

Photo credit: FlagArtist.com

Author: Heidi Gammuac

Heidi is a volunteer at Digital Alberta. Always interested in what is new and coming up in the world of digital media, she is an Account Executive at The Agency, a boutique PR firm that specializes in the technology sector. Full Bio & Twitter.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/08/waterloo-blazing-a-trail-for-canadas-tech-scene/feed/0Canadadigitalalbertaheidi low resChanging Mindshare of Wants and Needs see Technology Brands Rankings Increasinghttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/01/changing-mindshare-of-wants-and-needs-see-technology-brands-rankings-increasing/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/01/changing-mindshare-of-wants-and-needs-see-technology-brands-rankings-increasing/#commentsTue, 01 Oct 2013 17:54:32 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=179819Yesterday Venture Beat posted an article stating “Apple finally dethroned Coca-Cola as the world’s most valuable brand”. This is not surprising to me, considering how many Apple fans there are in the world, and how much the company …]]>Yesterday Venture Beat posted an article stating “Apple finally dethroned Coca-Cola as the world’s most valuable brand”. This is not surprising to me, considering how many Apple fans there are in the world, and how much the company has expanded over the past ten years. What is interesting though, is the sheer number of technology companies listed on the most recent Interbrand index of the New Top 100 Best Global Brands of 2013.

In the number one spot is Apple, followed by Google, with four and five occupied by IBM and Microsoft respectively. This isn’t a coincidence. As our world becomes increasingly run and dominated by our reliance on technology, and our love for companies that can deliver our digital experiences, tech brands will continue to move up in value and mindshare.

As with most advances in innovation, the companies that are helping to facilitate change are the ones that tend to be at the forefront when it comes to popularity. Take Ford for instance, still a brand in the top 50, but one that I bet would have ranked in the top five 70-80 years ago when cars were the latest innovation for consumers.

If you look at the 2013 list several top technology companies are present. They include: Apple, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Samsung, Intel, Cisco, HP, Oracle, Amazon, SAP, eBay, Canon, Sony, and Facebook at number 52. All of these companies offer a mix of software, hardware, social networking, and big data analysis, which inevitably work towards either making our daily lives easier or more fun.

I think Interbrand summarizes their decision really well, stating, “ For revolutionizing the way we work, play, and communicate — and for mastering the ability to surprise and delight — Apple has set a high bar for aesthetics, simplicity, and ease of use that all other tech brands are now expected to match, and that Apple itself is expected to continually exceed.” Venture Beat agrees saying, “In other words, Apple has completely changed our lives, making its ascent almost entirely inevitable.”

Venture Beat goes on to summarizes the entire list really well, commenting, “If the Interbrand report shows anything, it’s that brand success often favors companies that can create the kinds of products people can define themselves through. This has always been true for automotive companies (14 of which make Interbrand’s list), and it’s equally true for our rising tech giants, whose reach has extended to even the smallest parts of our lives. Your iPhone is also your lifestyle.”

This idea of lifestyle becoming synonymous with the technology you use on a daily basis is interesting. I’m looking forward to participating and watching how it continues to unfold.

Photo credit: Interbrand

Author: Arleigh Vasconcellos

Arleigh is the VP South for Digital Alberta. Besides her work on the board of DA, she runs a local boutique PR firm, The Agency, which specializes in the technology sector – we heart PR and we speak geek! Full Bio and Twitter.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/10/01/changing-mindshare-of-wants-and-needs-see-technology-brands-rankings-increasing/feed/0InterbranddigitalalbertaAGV head shot_low res7 reasons to volunteer for a startuphttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/24/7-reasons-to-volunteer-for-a-startup/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/24/7-reasons-to-volunteer-for-a-startup/#commentsTue, 24 Sep 2013 20:41:52 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=178946So, why anyone would want to work for a company for free?

Startup companies are unique. While they are different from large corporations, they can still offer a wide variety of fulfilling roles and opportunities for personal growth. Unfortunately, most …

]]>So, why anyone would want to work for a company for free?

Startup companies are unique. While they are different from large corporations, they can still offer a wide variety of fulfilling roles and opportunities for personal growth. Unfortunately, most don’t have big budgets for salaries and hiring new talent. This is a challenge for Calgary-based startups that have to compete with large companies who are able to offer ‘downtown salaries.’ In addition, entrepreneurs often don’t have the time to search for talented individuals.

Startup Calgary & AcceleratorYYC listened to some entrepreneurs who were looking for help and organized a networking event that connected 25 potential volunteers with 10 early stage tech startups.

Beyond the obvious ‘makes you a good person’ and ‘adds projects to your resume’ benefits, the team at AcceleratorYYC has come up with 7 reasons why you should volunteer for a local startup.

Reason #1: Sharpen your skills and establish credibility

Marketing classes are the equivalent of written driving tests. You may learn the theory, but it takes experience to learn how to drive. Have you tested the theories from the classroom on a real company’s actual customers? If you’re passionate and eager to learn, most startups will let you take on a larger volunteer role and work with their numbers to create real results. Think of it this way – larger organizations don’t typically give volunteers access to their social media accounts or private mailing lists.

Make an impact for a small organization and establish your own credibility at the same time. The effort you display and your ability to measure results will help you stand out from your peers. Few can say they’ve gone above and beyond and helped increase revenue for a local startup on their own time.

Reason #2: Learn something new

You don’t know what you don’t know, until you know. Everyday is different in a startup. The title CEO & Founder of a startup can literally mean, ‘I do everything – from writing job postings to raising money from investors to presenting sales presentations to potential customers.” Being a volunteer insider will give you the opportunity to wear multiple hats and learn what it takes to run a company. Basically, all startup members wear many hats and if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you can learn a lot from those people in real world settings.

Reason #3: Experience entrepreneurship firsthand

According to Gene Marks’ article on Inc.com, he believes that millennials make up the ‘entrepreneur generation’. He describes this generation as, “people in their 20s who want independence, mobility, challenges, and a rewarding occupation.” While you may not find those altruistic perks in a large corporation, you’ll certainly experience them in a startup.

If you’re part of the ‘entrepreneur generation’ and want to test out this type of environment, volunteering will give you the opportunity to do so with minimal commitment (free trial!). Many startups haven’t established their corporate processes and practices, giving you the freedom to test ideas and be a part of that initial growth period. Imagine being able to tell a future employer that you helped to shape a company’s best practices?

Reason #4: Form new connections

Obviously you’ll meet new people when you get involved in a new organization. However, the Calgary startup community is extremely supportive and we’ve found that many people will go out of their way to help you succeed. Find a local entrepreneur that can show you the ropes and volunteer your expertise to help them out in return. Beyond the additional connections, you’ll get the opportunity to work with them and learn directly from your mentor.

The startup community is growing fast and becoming more interconnected than ever thanks to support from local organizations and many success stories. If you’re volunteering for a local startup, you might as well jump head first into the community and connect with others at monthly events such as Mobile Monday, Startup Drinks, or weekly Hack Nights at AcceleratorYYC. You never know who you’ll meet who will impact your career later on – especially if you take the opportunity to establish credibility for your skills and expertise.

Reason #5: Diversify your portfolio

This reason touches on the obvious ‘add projects to your resume’ reason listed above, but it’s much more than that. Listing a project that you’ve helped create for a large company or department with over 100 employees is dramatically different than showcasing ownership of a project within a small startup with a handful of team member; Having a large client on your resume can buff your resume, but volunteering for a high-growth, nimble company with a limited budget can also show innovation, creativity and persistence. (Hint: these are the traits that will make you stand out from your peers… especially when you can back them up with measurable examples).

Volunteer for a unique project within a startup and show future employers that you have what it takes to work with a diverse range of stakeholders and get results.

Reason #6: Improve your time management skills

Everyone who has gone through a university or college-level program tends to put ‘excellent time management’ skills on their resume and cover letter. Why don’t you put that to the test? Add a few extra hours of volunteering and make a difference in a local startup as opposed to creeping a few extra hours on Facebook. Some of the busiest people tend to be the most productive as they have discovered what it takes to get everything done and not waste time. Push yourself now, master those skills and watch it pay off for your future career.

On that note, as a volunteer you’ll get to set your own time limits and availability. (You’re the boss! Okay, not quite…) You can always adjust your schedule to become more or less involved if your time commitment changes at any point.

Reason #7: Test out your ideal job

Volunteering lets you test out new companies that may not necessarily have been hiring for your role. You get to try out your ideal job, work with a variety of products or services and ultimately test different organizations until you find the right cultural fit. Once money is involved, that all changes and it becomes harder to quit.

If you’ve found the perfect fit, there are often opportunities to transition from volunteering into an internship or a future job placement when the startup is ready to hire. You’ll save yourself time on the job hunting process and will make for a smooth transition when you already know your future boss.

Going above and beyond for a small organization without receiving a paycheque is guaranteed to get you one step closer to landing your dream job. Beyond the personal connections, work experience and credibility that you’ll gain, you’ll also get to learn whether startup life is the career path for you!

Jenn is the director of AcceleratorYYC. She manages the co-working space and works alongside entrepreneurs and community stakeholders to provide startups with the resources they need. She holds a B.Comm degree from the University of Saskatchewan and is a passionate marketing communications and business development professional. Connect with Jenn here.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/24/7-reasons-to-volunteer-for-a-startup/feed/0Join a StartupdigitalalbertaJoin a StartupJenn EgroffDigital should be built into the fabric of marketinghttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/17/digital-should-be-built-into-the-fabric-of-marketing/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/17/digital-should-be-built-into-the-fabric-of-marketing/#commentsTue, 17 Sep 2013 22:28:44 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=178183Continuing our series of Digital Alberta Award winners this year we are happy to feature ZGM Collaborative Marketing. They won both Best Digital Design for ARC Resources Corporate Responsibility Report site and Best Digital Advertising/Marketing for the Big Burn campaign …]]>Continuing our series of Digital Alberta Award winners this year we are happy to feature ZGM Collaborative Marketing. They won both Best Digital Design for ARC Resources Corporate Responsibility Report site and Best Digital Advertising/Marketing for the Big Burn campaign for their client Alberta Health Services. ZGM is a full-service marketing agency that believes in collaboration (as their name states). This applies to their staff but also with their partners and suppliers. Open source is not only a development mantra – it’s a way of doing business and their source is wide open.

Digital Alberta chatted with Dan King, Partner and President of ZGM, to see if there was a secret to their sauce.

Digital Alberta (DA): So where did you guys come from and what does the ZGM stand for?

Dan King (DK): ZGM spun out of Parallel Strategies almost 15 years ago and started as Zero Gravity Marketing. At the time Parallel was the largest independent agency in Western Canada and the founder felt it was time to create a lean, digitally-led model that could seamlessly act as a company’s internal marketing department. About nine years ago a number of partners were brought in to take the reins and formed the partnership as it is comprised today, including Rob Fairhead, Peter Bishop, Andrew McFallon, Mario Amantea and myself. At the same time, we changed the model and focus of the agency to a more integrated and flexible framework and rebranded to the shortened ZGM.

DA: So what makes you different from any other agency?

DK: We hang our hats on two things: Culture and Collaboration. We painstakingly hand-pick our staff to make sure they will fit our eco-system. No egos, no tantrums, no cynics allowed. We look for people who collaborate with a side of talent. It’s our people that allow us to share because it’s built into each of us. You can’t make people open up if they don’t want to – it has to be there already. We just put them in an environment that encourages it. Great ideas are born from collaboration and that’s ultimately what makes this a great company.

DA: Why do you feel digital marketing is important?

DK: Digital is now just built into the fabric of marketing. It’s impossible to talk about campaigns or strategy without talking about digital. That’s why programmers, UX Architects and Information Architects always have a seat at the table when we are brainstorming. It can be daunting to some, especially as you look to add social and audience engagement components to your toolbox, but we find it exciting. It’s basically added more tools in our tool box and if you know how to use them you can build better stuff.

DA: What are some of the challenges having a digital offering within an agency bring with it?

DK: There is a balance between developing software and developing marketing tools. The lines are getting pretty blurry and if you don’t stay on top of it you can easily get in over your head. Our secret is to keep changing. We work hard to be flexible and learn from our mistakes as much as our successes. Software development teaches us a lot about the process and the discipline needed to get things done so we borrow from that model a fair bit, sprinkle in some of our own thoughts and stir.

DA: How has 2013 treated you and what’s on the horizon?

DK: 2013 has been an amazing year for us. It started with moving to new office space, some great new business wins and capped off with some wonderful industry awards such as these two. We’ve been having nice-steady growth for the last few years and have continued to grow some lasting relationships with great clients such as Fountain Tire, Government of Alberta, Alberta One Call, Fortis and Western Financial. Last week we announced our new Edmonton office as we continue to be bullish on Alberta and Western Canada.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/17/digital-should-be-built-into-the-fabric-of-marketing/feed/0zgm logodigitalalbertaA “caffeinated” look at digital marketinghttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/10/a-caffeinated-look-at-digital-marketing/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/10/a-caffeinated-look-at-digital-marketing/#commentsTue, 10 Sep 2013 21:34:13 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=177499One of our Digital Alberta Awards winners this year was Strong Coffee Marketing. They won the award for the Business to Commerce Innovation Award for their work with Fort Edmonton Park called “Connecting you to Edmonton’s Past – an Interactive …]]>One of our Digital Alberta Awards winners this year was Strong Coffee Marketing. They won the award for the Business to Commerce Innovation Award for their work with Fort Edmonton Park called “Connecting you to Edmonton’s Past – an Interactive Bus Bench Campaign.” Strong Coffee is a bold marketing company that specializes in everything online – from social media to search engine optimization to online advertising. They want to help their clients to “wake up” and see the potential of the untapped resources that online marketing has to offer. Digital Alberta had the opportunity to chat with Trevor Tessier, the Director of Online Strategy, to learn more about Strong Coffee Marketing and find out what’s up with that ninja star!

Strong Coffee Marketing (SCM): It’s a long story of late nights and strong coffee :-)

Coles notes version: An opportunity presented itself and four people, whose paths crossed through day-time marketing jobs and late night digital marketing addictions, teamed up to bring their talents together

DA: In your own words, please describe what Strong Coffee Marketing does in the digital marketing space?

SCM: In a nutshell, we provide our clients with web-based solutions for a broad variety of marketing, customer relations, branding and management challenges. We specialize in utilizing web-based marketing and analytical tools to accomplish a variety of tasks, from something as simple as brand awareness to selling events and products to more difficult projects like mobile website design and complex user management systems.

DA: How does Strong Coffee Marketing differentiate itself in the technology space?

SCM: We put a lot of emphasis on education and training. We aim to always inform and educate our clients – making sure they not only know what we’re doing but why we’re doing it. Most businesses that we work with have some idea of online marketing but don’t have the ability or time to put everything together. We’ll often take ideas that they’re got and work them into campaigns. We also believe in a holistic marketing approach. We offer a wide range of digital services but understand offline media as well. When we develop strategies we understand the needs and goals and implement strategies that fit best.

DA: How is Strong Coffee Marketing advancing digital marketing?

SCM: The web is forever changing and even before starting the company, we had an interest in the “latest and greatest” online marketing tactics and technologies. We try to take some time every week to seek out and try new things. Sometimes our research leads us to a dead end and sometimes we find something that’s worth exploring further. Regardless, we learn something every time. I think it’s important that digital companies have a focus on the future. We do our best to stay ahead of the curve.

DA: Can you please describe your work on “Connecting You to Edmonton’s Past – An interactive bus bench campaign”?

SCM: The augmented bus bench campaign was an opportunity for us to take Fort Edmonton Park and storytelling to the streets of Edmonton. We had experimented with augmented reality in the past and thought that this campaign would be a perfect fit for this technology. People were able to scan the Fort Edmonton Park bus benches around the city using the Aurasma app and a costumed interpreter would appear on their screen to share stories of Edmonton’s past. We filmed a number of interpreters and were able to rotate the videos through so each day of the week featured a different message. The campaign was part of our larger effort to take the Fort Edmonton Park digital media program to the next level. We’ve worked hard to make it one of the more innovative and effective online programs in Edmonton.

DA: Can you please describe a project or client that involved using a unique digital marketing technique? For example, a project where you’ve been nominated for or won an award.

SCM: We were fortunate to have the augmented reality bus bench campaign be recognized by Digital Alberta in the Best B2C Innovation category. We’ve also done some interesting things with remarketing advertising this year. Some of those campaigns have been submitted for award nominations. Honestly, awards are fun but it’s the results that matter the most.

DA: Why do you feel digital marketing is important? Why do you feel it is important to have a presence in the technology sector?

SCM: For many years, digital marketing was an extra. It was something that savvy companies did but others were not necessarily ready to try. We’re at a point now where being online isn’t really an option anymore, it is a requirement. Consumers are shifting so much of their time online. They’re using online resources to source product reviews, look for deals and make purchases. It’s important to not just be online, but to succeed online. The good news is that there are some amazing tools and technologies out there that can help, but it takes expertise to be able to really harness the web to drive results. We can help them get to where they need to go.

DA: What is next on the horizon?

SCM: We’ve had some fun with augmented reality promotions recently and would like to continue to explore this area. Mobile is also continuing to grow at an incredible pace, and is offering its own host of opportunities.

DA: What are Strong Coffee’s greatest challenges in the next two years?

SCM: 1) Affording company jetpacks. We can write those off can’t we?

2) Convincing Duncan we should take over his New York location as our next office.

3) Finding out how to fit more monitors into the social media command centre.

DA: If Strong Coffee were an animal what would it be?

SCM: A monkey. But that monkey would be buddies with a robot and their hangout is a sandbox. Both enjoying some hot java. Then again, sometimes we’ve imagined it to be a gorilla with a jetpack.

DA: Ok, last question – some would say SEO is the modern equivalent of snake oil. How do you react to that?

SCM: That reminds me when someone told me SEO was digital voodoo. Maybe these folks have received one too many emails that start with “Sir or Madame, I am *insert name here* from a reputable marketing company. I have scanned your website and see that you could be ranking better for important key terms”…

Truth is, SEO done right can be a great asset to many businesses. It’s a matter of education.

Strong Coffee’s combination of fun and focus was evident in their work for Fort Edmonton’s augmented reality bus bench campaign. Discover more about the campaign.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/10/a-caffeinated-look-at-digital-marketing/feed/0Strong Coffee marketing logodigitalalbertaClassroom Gadgets – Using Technology to Enhance Learninghttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/03/classroom-gadgets-using-technology-to-enhance-learning/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/03/classroom-gadgets-using-technology-to-enhance-learning/#commentsTue, 03 Sep 2013 17:58:02 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=176780“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” so the Staples commercial goes.

It’s back-to-school time, as students change gears from the lazy days of summer and shift back to hitting the books. Today’s classrooms are equipped with the latest …

]]>“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” so the Staples commercial goes.

It’s back-to-school time, as students change gears from the lazy days of summer and shift back to hitting the books. Today’s classrooms are equipped with the latest technology to enhance instruction. Here are some favourite student and teacher gadgets for use in day-to-day learning:

1) Smartphones – Smartphone use in the classroom is still somewhat controversial, but the Calgary Board of Education actually encourages it as a learning tool. In an interview with CTV, Queen’s University National Scholar and Associate Professor Sidneyeve Matrix compared the situation to when calculators were first used by students in the classroom. “We had a whole new level of computational skill, and now we’re going to have a whole new level of mobile digital skills when we turn to mobile learning on the handhelds.”

2) Laptops and tablets – Technology users are moving towards being more mobile, and teachers and students are a significant part of that trend. Last month, Lenovo, the world’s top PC vendor reported that they sold more smartphones and tablets than PCs for the first time ever.

3) Interactive whiteboards – Calgary-based SMART Technologies’ SMART Boards are popular with both teachers and students. Teachers can project presentations onto the SMART Boards and they can write, touch and interact with their content.

4) Document cameras – Document cameras are a fun way for teachers to show students new and interesting ways of looking at objects. Whether they are zooming in on the smaller details of a 3D object, or observing science experiments, students can share an equal view of the lesson – without crowding the teacher’s desk.

5) mp3 players – Whether a student is listening to his own music while studying, or a teacher is playing an audio book to her students, mp3 players are an increasingly common sight in schools. Both teachers and students can make full use of mp3 players in their school activities.

While the best learning models still involve personal communication, technology can be introduced in any number of ways to enhance student learning and make lectures more interactive. What are some of your favourite educational tech gadgets?

Heidi is a volunteer at Digital Alberta. Always interested in what is new and coming up in the world of digital media, she is an Account Executive at The Agency, a boutique PR firm that specializes in the technology sector. Full Bio & Twitter.

]]>http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/09/03/classroom-gadgets-using-technology-to-enhance-learning/feed/0education-technologydigitalalbertaheidi low resThe Transition of Newspapers: Gamification as a solutionhttp://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/08/27/the-transition-of-newspapers-gamification-as-a-solution/
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/08/27/the-transition-of-newspapers-gamification-as-a-solution/#commentsTue, 27 Aug 2013 18:17:53 +0000http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/?p=176231When Jeff Bezos bought the distinguished Washington Post Company, there was a slight reprieve (if only for a day) from hearing about the decline of print journalism.

Let’s never mind that the purchase likely had more to do with the …

]]>When Jeff Bezos bought the distinguished Washington Post Company, there was a slight reprieve (if only for a day) from hearing about the decline of print journalism.

Let’s never mind that the purchase likely had more to do with the fact that the company owns Kaplan, Inc. Or that Kaplan, which started as a tutoring business, owns 75 small colleges. Or that Kaplan’s higher education revenues eclipse not only the test-prep operations, but all the rest of the Washington Post Company’s operations.

Let’s pretend that the purchase by the founder of Amazon.com is a vote of confidence for print newspapers. Perhaps the decline of print newspapers is transient or overestimated.

Bezos must after all see some confluence between his Kindle products and the Washington Post newspaper. Surely this must be a sign that print newspapers will soon resurrect from the decline over the last five years.

Conrad Black recently chatted with Bloomberg television about Warren Buffet’s bullish purchases of a number of newspapers and what it means for the future of print and print advertising. (My favourite part of this interview was Black’s solution for newspapers to make the Internet transition: everyone needs to get big, industrial printers in their homes to print their own newspapers every day.)

Will Bunch, at the Philadelphia Daily News, calls it the de-newspaperization of America and links it to the de-industrialization of America. But for all of the recent purchases of papers by Bezos and Buffet, Bunch is prophetic when he writes, “What’s true in journalism is true in manufacturing and is true in retail. What we have to recognize is that those old times aren’t coming back.”

To survive, newspapers need to forget the old models based on advertising revenue. When most content is provided through the web or mobile devices, the new epoch for newspapers will do well to to look to mobile games to find new models of revenue.

Which is to say that pay-walls, now being experimented with by the New York Times, aren’t the solution either.

There is a reason that now when you look at the Apple App Store, 82 of the top grossing games are Free-to-Play. Only five games in the current list of top 100 grossing games relying on their initial sale price alone for revenue.

The reason is the use of virtual goods. Game developers have honed how to get their players to purchase virtual goods with real world currencies. These same techniques used to motivate players (curated here by Geoffrey Goetz of Gigaom.com) should be used by newspapers to motivate readers.

Flow

As Goetz points out, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of “flow”, where someone is fully immersed or “in the zone”, is important for game developers. For newspapers this means experimenting with the user experience of reading and exploring through content to find what type of interface and experience will help readers experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement.

Intermediate Currency

If a newspaper wants my money as a reader, why am I being sent off to painfully enter my credit card or call a toll-free number?

Why is sharing and exploring content not gamified?

Why is there no intermediate currency for me to earn or buy to access certain content?

Every time you let a reader assess the value of a transaction, the less likely you are to convert. If you want a reader to buy content, put an intermediate currency between them and real money.

The subtle manipulation of reader (or coercive monetization model, as game economist Ramin Shokrizade calls it) are techniques honed for years by game developers. It’s possible to make money without coercive methods (like paywalls), but it includes a lot more work. Newspapers, as they scramble for new revenues to stay afloat, would do well to look at game developers and how they “defeat a customer’s ability to make informed choices about the costs and values in these products”, as Shokrizade said.

Tyler Shandro is on the Board of Directors of Digital Alberta. The lawyer and University of Calgary graduate is currently a Board Member of the Municipal Government Board for the Government of Alberta. Full Bio and Twitter.